She still held onto the C-4 in her coat pocket and searched for a spot and an opportunity to toss it away, still terrified that they would search her and find it. But she knew it probably didn't matter anymore; every step she took forward, she knew that it would be a step she would never be allowed to retrace.
The trail eventually opened up and as they rounded a bend, a small wooden shack stood before them. It was fifty feet away, and it stood at the side of the trail, weathered and dilapidated. It was such a small structure, but the color of the wood, the way it leaned, told a story.
A deep sense of foreboding gripped her as the shack called to her. Gaps between boards leered at her like black eyes; another board that had fallen apart at one side sat angled down to the ground—a queer and sinister smile.
Noah stopped and looked at her. "There it is," he said.
"What is it?"
"See for yourself," he said, motioning toward it.
She looked at him as if to ask if he was serious, and even though his face was painted in a smile, she knew he was. She started walking with short, shuffling steps. Leaves crunched under her shoes, like broken glass in her ears. She glanced back as she went, seeing that Noah and Wayne just stood there, watching her go. When she got closer to the shack, they began to follow her.
The shack loomed and when she reached it, it seemed like a medieval iron maiden torture device, waiting for her to step inside and wrap itself around her with its razor-sharp spikes.
"Should I... go inside?"
"Yes."
She pulled the door open and it creaked on its hinges with a shrieking wail. The interior was black, and aside from the light coming through the doorway, she couldn't see a thing. She stepped inside, her heart permanently residing in her throat, and Noah and Wayne stepped in behind her.
She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for it. She didn't know what form it would take or where it would come from, but she knew it was coming any second.
She heard footsteps, the flick of a lighter, a soft whine like squeaky hinges, the clasping of metal, and the sound of glass softly striking something.
"Well, what do you think?" she heard Noah say.
She slowly opened her eyes. An old lantern that had been lit sat on a rickety wooden table. Its mellow light dimly illuminated the small interior of the shack, which could barely hold the three of them.
Her eyes scanned the wall and saw a rack nailed to it with tarnished hatchets and other small weapons hanging from it, their blades caked in dried blood.
She waited nervously, expecting Noah to take one from the rack and split her head with it. But he just stood there, awaiting her answer.
"Um... I don't know," she said quietly.
He reached out and took a hatchet from the wall, twisting it in front of her and weighing it in his hand. "Ever use one of these before?"
"No," she said.
"Today's your lucky day." He turned it around and presented the handle to her.
She cautiously reached out and took it, but as she started to pull it away, he tightened his grip on the blade and held it in place.
"Careful," he said. "The blade's real sharp. You wouldn't want to hurt anyone." He let go and she held it at her side.
"What's it for?" she asked.
"We're going to show you how to hunt," he said.
She looked at him, confused.
"Like I said, I want you to start getting more involved in things around camp, and I think it would be a good idea to have you help with hunting some food. Lots of deer out here and smaller animals. You just have to know how to kill them. Think you're up for that?"
"I... I guess." She couldn't understand what was happening, or why they were both acting like everything was normal. As her heart rate started to come down, she began second-guessing herself, wondering if she had been imagining things all along.
"After you," Noah said, waving his hand toward the door.
She walked outside as Noah followed and Wayne picked up a recurve bow and a quiver of arrows sitting on a shelf.
Noah led her out to a small clearing with a tree stump sticking out of the ground in the middle of it. He took the hatchet from her and stood a few yards away from the stump. "So this is a hatchet," he said. "You can use it to cut things by hand, obviously, but I want you to learn to hunt with it. Now, you can also throw it, like this." He took a long stance, leaned back and lurched forward, flinging the hatchet at the stump. It completed a full rotation before the blade buried into the wood with a heavy thud.
He walked over to it and pried it out, then handed it to her. She reluctantly took it and he moved her into position. She still thought this was all a ruse, and she would get cut down or otherwise killed at any moment, but he simply carried on with his instruction.
"You want to stand with your body square to your target and in a wide stance, like this." He used his hands and positioned her body into place, moving her shoulders and her legs until she was in the correct stance. "Now hold the hatchet upright like this, and now hold it right up in front of your target with a straight arm. Good. And when you shift your weight back, you're going to draw your arm back just like this and then step forward and swing your arm and release." He held onto her arm and guided her through the motion. "Okay, now try it on your own. Aim for that stump."
She tried to keep calm, but she was still shaking. She repeated everything he just told her in her mind, but she couldn't concentrate. She swung her arm back and threw it forward. She released the hatchet too late and on an angle, and it bounced off the ground in front of her, tumbling through the leaves.
"Okay, that's fine for a first throw," Noah said. "Try it again." He picked up the hatchet and handed it to her then went over his instructions again.
She threw it again, and it hit the stump, but with the back of the hatchet, and it bounced off and slid through the leaves again.
"Better," he said.
He worked with her and tried to refine her technique, but she was too frazzled to learn. She tried to keep it together and do well, thinking that if she didn't, they would see through her and know she was up to something—maybe search her and find the explosives.
After repeatedly trying and failing to sink the blade of the hatchet into the stump, Noah called an end to the activity. He held onto the hatchet as Wayne showed her how to use the bow and arrows. They traveled deeper into the woods and he gave her techniques on how to stay cloaked and wait for crossing animals. After he showed her the actual mechanics of shooting an arrow and having her practice, they waited hidden in some brush. After about twenty minutes, they saw something.
A deer walked by, its head jerking in every direction as it went, already spooked. It paused and stared straight ahead, listening. When it heard nothing, it let its guard down and sniffed around on the ground.
It was less than forty feet away, and Wayne silently gave Sarah instruction as she held the bow up and drew the arrow back. She calmed down a little from remaining still for so long, and she was better able to recall all the instruction he had given her. She held her breath, aimed carefully, then released the arrow.
It flew through the trees like a bolt of lightning and sailed just over top of the deer's torso. The deer spooked and galloped out of sight before they could blink. They heard the arrow bounce off a tree in the distance in fall silent.
Sarah relaxed her body, feeling her nerves calm, but also feeling genuinely disappointed that she missed.
"I think that's a good start for today," Noah said. He led the two of them back to the shed and he and Wayne disappeared inside to return the weapons and extinguish the lantern.
Sarah stood outside waiting for them, and as soon as they were out of sight, she rushed over to a hollow log and knelt down, stuffing the C-4, blasting caps and the detonator inside.
"What are you doing?" Noah asked her.
She stood up. "Nothing. I was just stretching... back's starting to get sore."
He just looked at her for a moment then
said, "Well let's get back, then."
She nodded and joined him and Wayne as the three of them made their way back to camp. This time, they both walked in front of her and didn't keep her closed in. As she followed behind them, she started to wonder if she was imagining everything. Maybe they didn't suspect her at all. Maybe her plan would still work. It looked like she had another night at Noah's Ark and another chance. There was more C-4 in the duffle bag and she decided that as soon as they got back to camp, she would find Barry and figure out a way to make it work this time.
22
On the Rocks
The air inside the greenhouse was hot and humid. Sweat dripped down Barry's forehead and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. His back was getting sore from sitting and absentmindedly pulling onions out of the ground. He hadn't seen Sarah all morning and he was worried about her. He hoped she was okay and that the bastards didn't do anything to her. If they did, he wondered how fast he could make it out of camp through his secret passageway. About a minute and a half ought to do it, he thought.
"Do you want me to take those?"
Barry looked up from his daydream as he wiped the dirt off an onion with a cloth. He looked over at the basket full of onions and tossed the last one in. "Thanks, Chuck," he said.
"No problem," Chuck said. He grabbed the basket and headed for the kitchen. As he walked through the door, he almost bumped right into Sarah. "Oops, sorry! Are you looking for Barry? He's right in the back."
Barry sat up, trying to crane his neck past a row of tomato vines. "Sarah!" he said.
Sarah walked up to him, glancing over her shoulder as she went. "Not so loud!"
The excitement on his face faltered and he made a little grunt of acknowledgement.
She searched the area to make sure no one else was around, then she sat down next to him. "Sorry," she said, "I just don't think it's a good idea for anyone to see us talking to each other."
"Where were you?" he asked. "I was worried sick about you!"
"Noah brought me out to some woods across town. I thought he was going to kill me, but he said he wanted me to learn how to hunt."
"What?"
"Yeah. Him and Wayne brought me to this shed and showed me how to hunt a deer. I have no idea why."
"Maybe they think it's a useful skill to have."
She gave him a sly glance.
"Okay, okay. It is a bit weird. Maybe a... 'keep your friends close, but your enemies closer' kind of thing?"
"That's the feeling I got," she said. "I can't shake the feeling that he's just toying with me. And I don't know how long that's going to last before he changes his tune."
"Do you still have the bomb?" he asked.
"I had to throw it away while I was out with them. I didn't want them to find it. But there's more in that bag just outside."
"Okay," he said, thinking. "Do you still want to do this?"
"Don't you?" she asked.
"To be honest, Sarah... I'll help you if you want, but all I'm saying is that the shed is right over there. We could be out of here in a minute and a half and nobody would be the wiser. You don't have to do this. There will always be men in this world that are like Noah or worse. Killing him won't do anyone a favor in the grand scheme of things."
"I have to," she said. "This is personal."
"It always is, isn't it?"
"We've got to figure something out," she said.
"Got any more distractions planned?"
"Not this time," she said, thinking. "But as soon as we do anything, he'll know and shut it down again. I don't think we're going to get another chance after today."
"Maybe we don't even need a distraction," he offered. "Maybe we just wait until he leaves his office, then we go in."
"I think that's the only way," she said. "We should stay inside for the rest of the day. I don't want to be seen together, because then you running interference if someone comes while I'm in there isn't going to fool anyone. I don't want anyone to know you're a part of this. But they might already be suspicious after last night."
"Well, I guess that's what we'll do," he said. "I'll keep an eye out and let you know if he leaves or vice versa, and mum will be the word. Just make sure you keep your head on a swivel."
"Will do," she said. "Take care of yourself too, will you?"
They said goodbye to each other and hoped to meet again at a more opportune moment. She left the greenhouse, opening the door and walking out as casually as possible.
She went inside and used the lavatory to wash up, then got some food from the cafeteria, electing to take her plate up with her to her bed. She sat behind the curtain eating some roasted squirrel and steamed veggies, feeling so claustrophobic that it was hard to swallow. When she finished, she took the plate back down for them to wash and tried to busy herself with tasks inside the main building, taking the occasional trip near Noah's office to see if he was inside, and yet at the same time being careful not to be spotted by him or make it look to anyone else like she was skulking around. She and Barry passed within each other's vicinity a few times throughout the day, and both of them were close to being nervous wrecks, though they hid it well.
Noah had been in his office all day with the door closed. She hadn't seen Wayne at all and only occasionally spotted Kenny. Whether Noah told Kenny whatever he knew about her or not, she didn't know, as he didn't seem to pay her any attention at all.
When the day finally fell into night, she checked again to see if his office door was open, but still it was shut tight. She was suspicious of what he was doing, starting to think that he was planning something. She felt paranoid and looked over her shoulder the whole day.
Then, on a trip she made from the infirmary back to her dorm, the office door opened. Her back was already to it when Noah poked his head out.
"Hey," he called after her. His smile was the same one that she saw that morning: big and flashy, but she could tell there was something off about it, like something sinister was lying just beneath.
"What is it?" she asked nervously.
"Come here," he said, his smile unwavering. He looked like a hideous facsimile of the man she thought she knew. Every aspect of his appearance and every mannerism was the same as it always had been, but now she could see through the illusion, like she was wearing the sunglasses from They Live.
She apprehensively walked up to him as he hung in the doorway. She didn't get too close, but when she stopped, he implored her to come closer. He kept up this game until she was practically within kissing distance. She tried to look at him, but always kept her head and her eyes just slightly averted to the side.
He finally wrapped his arms around her and swung her into his office in an awkward stilted walk.
With the way he jerked her off her feet and laughed as he did it, she couldn't help but let out a startled cry.
"It's okay," he said. "I've got you."
Before she could respond, he leaned in and kissed her, wasting no time in shoving his tongue in her mouth. This was the one aspect that she definitely knew was different: where he was sweet and tender before, now he was forceful and crude. He rubbed his hands all over her back, pulling at her blouse, causing it to yank and tighten uncomfortably against her skin.
She stood there lifelessly, but he didn't seem to care. At last, she tried to pull away and make an excuse that she was busy, but he wouldn't hear of it. He walked her over to his bed and she felt her legs lock up. Her body screamed out in protest, willing to destroy itself before it let itself be defiled.
"I really don't have time..." she squeaked out between his tongue probes.
"I think you do," he said, pushing her onto the bed.
She continued to protest and he ignored her as he undressed them both. She closed her eyes and tried not to cry and give herself away. It took everything she had to keep up the act and even pretend she was enjoying it after she resigned herself to the realization that he wasn't going to stop. When their shirts were off and he was w
orking his mouth across her chest, she tried to force anything at all into her mind to take her thoughts off of what was happening.
She tuned him out and began looking around his office while he was distracted for suitable places to plant explosives.
Under his desk would obviously be a good one, and she reasoned that one planted under the bed would be satisfyingly fitting. She also picked out the metal cabinet against the far wall, figuring a few steel drawer projectiles would do the trick.
Noah got their pants and underwear off and immediately entered her, even though she wasn't wet. She winced at the pain at first, and he didn't seem to care, unleashing a whole other side of him that he camouflaged from her the first time they had sex.
He was primal and rough, thrusting in and out of her as he pleased, focusing on his own pleasure. He pushed her legs back to her chest and slid in deeper to the point of significant physical pain. And every time she would look at him, his intense and aggressive eyes would soften and he would bring back that phony smile.
But she took the pain and let him do what he wanted while she stared off at the wall, counting the imperfections in the paint to try to distract herself as she held back tears. She became panicky, thinking that if she didn't put any effort into this act soon, the charade was going to be up and then who knew what he was going to do to her? She painfully dragged her head over to face him and she forced an awkward smile.
He smiled back at her. Then he turned her to the side slightly so he could smack her exposed ass with a firm palm. He grabbed it hard and twisted the flesh in his hand, causing it to go red, and did the same on the other side.
He let his mask fall completely. Now there was no doubt in her that Wayne told him exactly what she did; he was toying with her, sadistically abusing her and seeing how much she was willing to take. He had toyed with her that morning, and now he was doing it again. And she knew if he wasn't ready to kill her yet, he would only increase his depravity against her. But she believed that he still didn't know exactly what her plan was. She knew she still had the element of surprise.
A Rising Tide (Zombie Apocalypse Series Book 2) Page 21
